Wednesday, December 14 2005 11:03 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Acting swiftly on recommendations of Parliament's Ethics Committee against the MPs caught on camera accepting money for raising questions in the House, Rajya Sabha yesterday (Dec 13, 2005) suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Chhattrapal Singh Lodha even as the opposition party decided to suspend six of its erring members from Lok Sabha.

The Rajya Sabha unanimously adopted a resolution to suspend Lodha after a preliminary report of the Ethics Committee on the sting operation by a private TV news channel was tabled in the House.

"Since the member (Lodha) has been caught on tape accepting money for asking questions, the Committee unanimously recommends that Lodha should be suspended from the House pending presentation of the final report," the Ethics Committee headed by Karan Singh said.

"The Committee took serious note of the situation arising out of the telecasting of the programme which has damaged the image of Parliament and brought this August institution into disrepute," the report said.

Having taken the moral high ground on Volcker findings in Iraqi oil payoffs scam, BJP, put on the defensive by the cash-for questions" incident stepped up its fire-fighting exercise by deciding to recommend their suspension from Lok Sabha and instituting an internal probe.

A meeting of BJP General Secretaries and senior leaders, chaired by party chief L K Advani, decided to recommend suspension of its five Members from Lok Sabha who were caught on camera taking money for raising questions in the House.

The recommendation to suspend the party's six MPs from the lower house would be made to the Committee constituted by the Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, BJP deputy leader in Lok Sabha V k Malhotra said.

The party also named its Vice-President Bal Apte to head the internal probe. Former Union Ministers Satyanarain Jatiya and B C Khanduri would be its other members.

Addressing the weekly meeting of BJP Parliamentary Party, Advani expressed concern and anguish over the incident and said it tarnished the party's image.

"The relevations in yesterday's television expose were very sad and shameful and a blot not only on the party but on the entire Parliament and the entire country," Malhotra quoted Advani as saying.

He asked all newcomers to Parliament to keep away from 'fixers' and not to get entangled in renting out servant quarters and garage and commission on MPLAD fund and free air flights.

Meanwhile, the deadline for the MPs, who featured in the cash-for-question scam, for filing their explanation to the inquiry committee headed by the Speaker expires tomorrow.

None of these MPs could be contacted despite repeated phone calls to their residences from Parliament.

As damning videos of cash-for-questions scam continued to dominate the talk in Parliament House and outside, parties cutting across the political spectrum mulled over their implications on the body polity and the steps to check erosion in the credibility of politicians.

The CPI termed the scam as 'an outrageous assault' on the sanctity and dignity of Parliament and was more damaging than the terrorist attack on Parliament.